1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic component carrier for immovably holding chip-like electronic components in a regular manner so as to carry them.
2. Prior Art
Such a conventional electronic component carrier is used mainly for accurately transferring and feeding chip-like electronic components to an applicator for applying them to circuit boards. Recently, in order to meet with the rationalization of the production line, it has been considered important to transfer the electronic components in a large amount with a tape reel system.
FIGS. 7 and 8 show one example of carriers of such a tape reel system. More specifically, the carrier comprises a carrier tape 1' which has a series of discrete through holes 11' formed through the carrier tape 1' and spaced from one another at a predetermined interval along the length of the carrier tape 1', and a series of discrete feed perforations 12' formed through the carrier tape 1' and spaced from one another at a predetermined interval along the length of the carrier tape 1', the through holes 11' and the perforations 12' being positioned in predetermined relation to each other. Chip-like electronic components 3' are received in the through holes 11', respectively, and are bonded to an adhesive layer 21' of an adhesive tape 2' bonded to one side of the tape 1'. Reference numeral 20' denotes a substrate of the adhesive tape 2'.
The carrier of such a construction is wound into a roll when it is stored and when it is applied or fed. Since the adhesive tape 2' is thin, the adhesive tape 2' is subjected to deflection due to a difference in circumferential length between the carrier tape 1' and the adhesive tape 2'. Such deflection concentrates on those portions of the adhesive tape 2' which are not bonded to the carrier tape 1' (that is, at the regions where the through holes 11' are provided). When such stress develops, the interface between the adhesive layer 21' and the electronic component 3' is curved, so that the electronic component 3' is liable to be released from the adhesive tape 2' as the deformation of the substrate 20' occurs, because the adhesive layer 21' is provided over the entire surface of the substrate 20'. As a result, the electronic component 3' in the through hole 11' is often released from the adhesive tape 2' or displaced with respect to the adhesive tape 2'. Therefore, when applying the electronic components 3', they could not be picked up at high speed in a stable manner.